I have a very simple SharePoint Designer workflow on a SharePoint list. All it does is fire when a new item is created, copying one column value into another.

The workflow generally does exactly what it should. The issue we're running into is that occasionally (and we haven't figured out any pattern to it) the workflow simply doesn't fire when a new item is created. It's not that it fails, it never fires. There's nothing in the workflow history for the item. I also don't see anything like an error in the timer job history for the workflow job. It just seems like the workflow simply doesn't fire.

Any idea what would cause occasional non-firing of such a simple workflow?

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If you're interested in the backstory, the goal of the workfow is to turn a Managed Metadata column into a text value. We want to display the Managed Metadata column value in an email sent from the workflow, but when you do this you always get the "messy" value, like 'Level1Term:Level2Term:Level3Term|ba7e2a4f-6602-47a8-aa81-bca54756a356'

The only solution I know for this is the one in the comment from Kristina P in Michal Pisarek's blog post Managed Metadata Column Limitations (which I find myself referring to too regularly).

Here's the meat of it:

You start with your managed metadata column (Column1Name)

Create a 2nd column (Column2Name) in the table of type string

On-create and On-modify workflows copy the value from Column1Name into the Column2Name. (sample: Level1Term:Level2Term:Level3Term|ba7e2a4f-6602-47a8-aa81-bca54756a356)

Create a 3rd calculation column (Column3Name) on the table

Calculation finds the pipe character and trims the value to clean text using find() and left() functions. Formula: =LEFT([Column2Name],FIND(“|”,[Column2Name])-1)

It's a regular user or Site Admin. No System Account. The fact that the workflow doesn't seem to fire at all makes me wonder if there would be anything useful in the logs.
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Marc D AndersonNov 9 '12 at 16:47

SP will log messages like, not starting workflow because initiator is system account or recursive workflows are not allowed. Its worth checking. Maybe look for "workflow infrastructure" messages.
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Vadim TabakmanNov 9 '12 at 17:59

Nothing truly useful in the logs on this, but I'm working now on the assumption that recursion in my workflow may be an issue. Since the workflow changes columns in the current item, it will cause itself to be fired again, which is apparently a no-no. The fact that the workflow works most of the time makes that a strange possibility, though.
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Marc D AndersonNov 23 '12 at 15:25

Please note that, per the FAQ you must disclose your affiliation in your answers. If your objective is to quietly drum up a bit of traffic for your blog, this is probably the wrong place for you. [mod]
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SPDoctor♦Jan 20 '13 at 17:42